I was fortunate enough to be in Tokyo at the right time when Robert Doisneau’s Centennial Retrospective Exhibition was on, held at the Tokyo metropolitan Museum of Photography in Ebisu from March to May 2012.

The curators have selected some of his best and most representational prints and I was completely blown away by his powers of observation and the uncanny ability to capture the essence of the moment.

I’m equally awed by Robert Doisneau’s flair for capturing humour and comedy in his shots. Some of my favourite pieces in the exhibition – (above) A street cleaner gawks at ladies on the street in a comical reflection of the giant wall poster behind, and (below) the amused/shocked expressions of Parisians viewing a photograph of a naked woman. You really need to see the pictures in their original sizes for maximum impact.

(above) A small collection of the photographer’s more recent colored prints were on display too, but it is really his black and white pictures that steal the show.

All the prints that were on display at the exhibition are collected in this catalogue available for purchase from Amazon Japan –

“Robert Doisneau Centennial Retrospective Exhibition Catalogue” details :

– Dimensions – 25.6 x 18.2 x 1.8 cm
– Softcover, 191 pages
– Mostly Black & White prints, in Japanese language.

*The book seems to be out of print at the time of writing, hopefully it comes back soon. In any case, you can find many of his photography books on Amazon.com too.

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